


Patience

by TitanExpert



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, Fight Scene, Headcanon Backstory, before first expedition hanji, idek, what are tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-25
Updated: 2013-11-25
Packaged: 2018-01-02 14:50:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1058078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TitanExpert/pseuds/TitanExpert
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Many people don’t remember how Hanji Zoe was when she first joined the Scouting Legion. "<br/>"The man in front of her was short, ten centimeters shorter than her to be exact. "<br/>The first meetings of Hanji Zoe and Levi aren't the smoothest. Nothing a good fight can't handle.<br/>TW for slight suicide mention.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Patience

Many people don’t remember how Hanji Zoe was when she first joined the Scouting Legion. Hair cut short yet still long enough to tie up, one set of glasses, and a standard uniform—many people even debated whether she was a female or a male. She had a fiery rage that oozed out of every pore, pushing many people from interacting with her on a daily basis. It’s almost impossible to remember Hanji during her first year in the Scouting Legion for those who lived until the fall of Wall Maria. However, this isn’t a story about her enthusiastic titan theories or her panic inducing experiments. This is about what people remember the most from her first year. Through all of the death and the hardship, there was one thing that the members of the Scouting Legion looked forward to.

 

Hanji came from a fairly well off city in Wall Rose, close to Sina. Coming from a military background, Hanji was used to waiting for long periods of time for her father and mother to come home. However, one morning, Hanji received a message that any relative of a soldier in the Scouting Legion hoped only to experience in their worst nightmares. Her mother later retired from the Scouting Legion to take care of Hanji and her older sister. As soon as she was of age, Hanji saw her sister off for her first year of training, much against the wishes of her mother.

 

The day her mother died was also the day Hanji Zoe received a second message.

 

That night, Hanji Zoe took a pair of shears and cut off her hair until it barely made it past her ears. She packed her things and enlisted without a second thought. Not only had the titans taken away her father, but her sister and her mother as well. She packed her things and set off for her first year of training the next day.

 

Hanji found it interesting that she was part of the older crowd. Many of the recruits were from poor farming or hunting villages and others were there for their own benefit, to have their hand at the Military Police. Hanji Zoe wore a face filled with rage and competitive motivation. While the instructor intimidated recruits still hesitant in their decision or those that were too confident in their future, Hanji Zoe was left alone. 3D Maneuver Gear came easy to her and her written test scores were the top of her class. When she graduated, Hanji declined her position in the Military Police and enlisted in the Scouting Legion.

 

* * *

 

“Who’s this?” Hanji asked a year into her position in the Scouting Legion.

 

The man in front of her was short, ten centimeters shorter than her to be exact. The Squad Leader standing in front of her, Erwin Smith, smiled and patted the shorter man’s shoulder, much to his dismay. This stranger wore a perpetual glare and was obviously not used to his new haircut. He held in his hands a new uniform and seemed quite uncomfortable in the situation he was put in.

 

“This man’s name is Levi. He’s part of the Scouting Legion as of today.”

“Oh?” Hanji responded, moving her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “I didn’t know there were new recruits today.”

 

“There’s just this one.”

 

Hanji stopped for a moment. Did that mean that this man, Levi, was brought into the Scouting Legion without any prior training? She looked up to the man standing next to her, Mike Zakarius, and they exchanged a look of confusion between them. Crossing her arms over her chest, Hanji studied the man standing in front of her again. _How old is he anyway?_ She doesn’t know how Erwin brought this man into the Scouting Legion without any training, but she figured that there was a reason behind it. Hanji took a deep breath and decided to deal with it.

 

“So what are we to do? We haven’t even gotten the chance to go onto our first expedition, Squad Leader,” Hanji explained.

 

“That’s precisely why I’ve asked you to my office. You two won’t go into your first expedition for another couple of months. I want you two to train Levi in using 3D maneuver gear and in everything you can about titan killing.”

 

Hanji let her jaw drop slightly. She was going to cram three years worth of training into a matter of months? At this moment Hanji Zoe didn’t care what merit the great Squad Leader Erwin Smith had on him. He was insane.

 

“You want us, to put _three years_ worth of training into a matter of _months_? Are you _insane_?”

 

“Don’t worry, Levi’s a quick learner. I want you to teach him everything that you learned in training. You two were part of the top of your training squad. I picked you two for a reason.”

 

“Shouldn’t we be more focused on training for our first expedition?”

 

“You’ll do plenty of that later.”

 

Hanji felt anger surge through her. She was supposed to be focusing on preparing to go onto her first expedition and surviving it. Killing a few titans in the process. She didn’t need to worry about this… This _person_ who had gotten special treatment, being sent into the Scouting Legion without going through the hell everyone else had to. Who was he anyway? What kind of power did he hold? _Why was he here?_ Hanji felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Mike stepping up and holding his free hand out toward the short man.

 

“The name’s Mike Zakarius. This is Hanji Zoe. Glad to see you part of the Scouting Legion.”

 

* * *

 

“Who do you think you are?!” Levi shouted at Hanji as he threw a punch. _Sloppy_.

 

Hanji easily dodged the punch and grabbed his wrist before twisting it and bringing his body toward hers, pushing his shoulder down, keeping him in a compromising position. If he were to try and move, he’d risk breaking his arm, yet she had such a good grip on both his arm and shoulder that he couldn’t move. Hanji frowned at him. It was already a month in the training. She and Mike were running out of time. He excelled in 3D maneuver gear and the process of killing titans. However, Levi was terrible at teamwork and fought with the same predictable style. Though she had to hand it to him, his movements were sloppy, sure, but Hanji could tell that he can hold his own in a fight.

 

Hanji was nearing her patience level with this short man. Throughout the entire ordeal, he did nothing but insult and glare. He also constantly commented on her lack of cleanliness. She was still upset at the Squad Leader for leaving Levi with her and Mike. Every morning, he sneered at her “shitty coffee” and the mess of her hair. Every afternoon, he criticized her skills on the 3D maneuver gear. Every evening he insulted her on her fighting style.

 

“If you’re going to fight, fight!”  
           

“I don’t want to hurt you.”  
           

“Tch. That’s bullshit. You hate me.”  
           

“I don’t hate you. We need as many soldiers as we can get anyway.”

 

It was the same every night.

 

“I saw your face behind those shitty glasses you wear. You don’t want me here.”

 

“That’s not true. There are other reasons I made that face.”

 

Hanji let go of his arm and let him rub it before getting back into her stance. _He doesn’t have a good stance either. It’s too casual. He puts a lot of weight on the wrong foot and he rushes into his attacks. He also tries to use weapons. A lot of them._ As soon as Levi was comfortable in his position, he rushed at her again. Hanji sighed and waited for him to get near her before putting up the defensive. Just as she was about to hit his chest, he disappeared. Blinking, Hanji stood disoriented for a moment before realizing what he did, but too late. Before she knew it, Hanji had an arm wrapped around her neck, bending her backward and throwing off her balance slightly. She felt a foot kick the back of her knee and she let out a yelp of pain before falling on her back. Her hands smacked the dirt under her, transferring the energy before jumping back up.

 

“Finally,” she muttered.

 

“What?” Levi asked in an accusatory tone.

 

“You did something unpredictable. You’ve been predictable this entire time.”

 

Levi scoffed. “I can be unpredictable whenever I would like to be.”

 

He rushed at her again. This time Hanji prepared herself. When he disappeared from her vision again, she took a step forward and spun around, changing the weight from one foot to the other. Levi looked at her, slightly surprised. Hanji took the opportunity and side kicked him in the chest, making him fall back onto the ground, gasping. He glared at her.

 

“I thought you didn’t want to hurt me.”

 

“I don’t.”

 

“Then what the fuck is that?”

 

Hanji let her hands down and put them on her hips instead.

 

“I didn’t hurt you. You’re just out of breath. If I wanted to hurt you, you’d feel it.”

 

“Then do it, you coward!”

 

Hanji clenched her hands on her uniform. She can feel the heat boiling in her chest. Just a little bit more—

 

“Or did you have your father do everything for you like the rich kid you are?” Levi asked with a smug smirk on his face.

 

In a quick motion, Hanji picked him up by the collar of his uniform and threw him into the benches off the side of the field. Hanji felt the pot boil over as she heard him scramble to get up and march up to her. Hanji turned to see a fist come at her face. Her head was thrown back and she instantly felt the throbbing pain in her left eye. Taking a few steps back Hanji held her face. The lens in her glasses broke and she felt a bit of the glass lodged into her skin. She took off her glasses and set it down on an unturned bench.  Hanji held her hands up and waited to see the figure of him move closer to her. Just as she was about to punch him, she saw him disappear--yet it was slightly diagonal. Turning on her left foot, Hanji sent a right roundhouse kick to his left temple. It would have been his thigh, had he not crouched down.

 

Slowly, a few of the newer recruits walked to see what the commotion was after hearing the benches being upturned. Hanji can feel the blood running down her face as she saw the figure of Levi stumble up, his hand to his bleeding temple. More and more people gathered. Some even started taking bets.

 

“Who do you think’s gonna win?”

 

“I don’t know, man. I heard he’s a major thug.”  
           

“Yeah, but she dominated in hand to hand combat during training.”

 

“That’s true.”

 

Levi rushed at her and aimed for the same spots he aimed over the past month. He took a strike at her throat, to which Hanji blocked easily and parried with a blow to the abdomen. This was when she realized just how fit he was. Levi didn’t double over like most people; he nearly let out a grunt of pain. Hanji aimed for where he liked to put his weight, the front leg in his stance. She caught his arm mid punch and slid to the side of him before sliding her right foot under his, making him lose his balance. Instead of letting him go like she would normally do, Hanji forced him to the ground.

 

Levi grabbed the arm that grabbed his and brought him down with her. He punched at her jaw, a freshly groomed nail cutting her lip, making her shout out in pain before he flipped her over, letting him have the upper hand. Hanji however, recovered quickly and shifted her weight, pushing off of her left leg and moving toward the right under Levi. He held her shoulders, and she felt a drop of his blood fall on her face. Hanji lifted her right leg and kicked him in the groin, making him loosen his grip on her and gaining a cheer from the crowd that formed.

 

Hanji scrambled to get back on her feet, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. She felt the band in her hair loosen and reached up to fix it. Hanji heard the gravel under Levi move and looked over to see him pull out a nail from the bench she made him turn a few minutes earlier. Her eyes widened as she heard someone shout, “He has a weapon!” Hanji turned to the side and felt the object cut her uniform at her side. She felt the familiar sting of a sharp point cutting skin and quickly put her hand over it. Hanji felt the surprise leave her body and the instinct of survival kick in. However, she saw someone grab Levi just as he was about to rush towards her one more time.

 

“Hanji. Levi. What are you doing?” the voice of Squad Leader Erwin Smith shouted over the practice field.

 

The cheering was cut abruptly and was replaced by a heavy silence other than Hanji and Levi’s heavy breathing. Hanji felt a hand grab her arm. She looked up to see a familiar, tall blond. Mike.

 

“Forget it,” Levi said, breaking the silence.

 

The crowd dispersed as Hanji and Levi were guided toward the infirmary, Hanji more than Levi for her lack of vision. She sat quietly as Mike helped dress her wounds while Erwin on the other side of the room was tending to Levi.

 

“What was that about?” Mike asked, calmly.

 

Hanji remained silent.

 

“Oh,” He said, nodding. “Said something about the family did he?”

 

Hanji turned to face the wall and let Mike finish his job. He patted her hand lightly when he was and stood up. She heard his boots leave the room and another set walk over to her.

 

“Hanji—“

 

“I don’t want to hear it, Squad Leader.”

 

“Well then you shouldn’t have started it.”

 

“ _Excuse me?_ ”

 

“Look, I know he’s put a bit of… Stress on you, but I see a lot of potential in him. Just be patient.”

 

“I’ve been patient for the past month,” Hanji snapped. “I have an expedition to prepare for and I’m over here training someone who should have just gone through the process if he were so eager to join the Scouting Legion like the rest of us. Whatever potential you see in him, I don’t. And while I’m doing this, wasting my time on someone who does nothing but constantly insult me, he has the _nerve_ to tell me that I had my father to do everything—“

 

“Are you telling me you didn’t?” a voice came from the other side of the room.

 

Hanji turned and saw a familiar blob of black hair.

 

“I didn’t. I had both of my parents in the Scouting Legion.” Silence. Hanji felt the anger still flow through her veins and the thrill of having the upper hand in a verbal argument caused her to stand up and walk up to him. “And do you know why I didn’t have a father doing everything I asked? He died. My mother retired. My sister enlisted. And then they both died. You may not have somewhere to go back to, _Levi_ , but never tell me that’s worse than having somewhere to go back to and never being able to no matter how much you want to.”

 

“Hanji—“ she heard Erwin say.

 

“I’m leaving.”

 

* * *

 

The next morning Levi didn’t sneer at the coffee made by Hanji Zoe. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello! Thank you so much for reading this fic. I've had this headcanon that Levi and Hanji get into very bloody fights and kind of had the urge to write it. So write it, I did. I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it!


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